


The Legacy

by itachisgurl93



Category: Naruto, One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Death, F/F, F/M, Genderbending, M/M, Multi, Piracy, Yaoi, Yuri
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-02
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2017-12-07 06:44:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/745505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itachisgurl93/pseuds/itachisgurl93
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After losing everyone precious to him, Naruto makes a deal with the Shinigami to seal away Madara soul in exchange for his. Little does he know, the Shinigami has other plans. Character death, blood, gore, piracy. yaoi though not with naurto ...well for the 'naruto anyways'. there will be yuri...romance eventually . It is reborn!naru. As a female.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Descend

Chapter 1: The Descend

It was over. The war that plagued the Great Shinobi Nations was finally over. But it did not come without a price. Many thousands had died. The Kages died defending their ninjas til their last breath. And then those ninjas they died to protect died. The weaker ones died first. The stronger ones did the best to save as many as they could like their leaders did. Unfortunately the number of weak outnumbered the amount of stronger ninja. Soon the weak died as well. And after them the stronger, faster ones died, having used too much chakra to defend others.

Out of the Konoha Eleven, Hinata and Sakura died first. Even though both had gotten stronger, they had used too much chakra healing those who could be saved. Hinata died with a blade to the heart while she had her back turned. Sakura's head was cut off with a windmill shiruken, courtesy of Uchiha Sasuke.

Neji was next. In a fit of rage at seeing his beloved little cousin and heiress die in front of him he was struck down by a Chidori to the heart from Sasuke. Lee attacked next after seeing that but he too was stuck down my Sasuke's blade.

Ino's death was next. She died jumping in front of an attack meant to Chouji, the love of her life, Chouji died having eaten too many of his pills, it was quite the sad scene. He knew he was going to die, so he went to were his beautiful wife laid and went into the forever sleep cradling her in his arms.

TenTen died soon after, she was impaled by those beautiful weapons she loved. Shino and Kiba decided to attack Obito head on. However, both were caught by Madara and burned alive.

The last two left were Naruto and Shikamaru. Together they were to take out Sasuke, but the relief was short lived when Madara impaled Shikamaru with his Susanoo.

The final battle came down to Naruto, Kakashi, Bee and Gai vs Obito and Madara. As were his wishes. Kakashi went one on one against Obito while the others fought Madara. Kakashi succeeded in defeating Obito, but not before he was able to get in a fatal hit to Kakashi's heart. He died a few minutes later in Naruto's arms apologizing for not having been a better sensei.

The end was next. Gai attacked first, followed by Bee, then Naruto. Gai died first, causing Naruto and Bee to have to formulate an new plan. That was were Naruto had remembered the one thing that he could use to kill Madara once and for all. Courtesy of Kurama of course.

The Shiki Fuujin.

Both knew it would be tricky. But even so it needed to work. Unfortunately neither had enough chakra to work the summon. That was when Bee decided that he's lived a fulfilling life and that he would be happy to see this brother again. Naruto was confused as to what was he was talking about though, but was convinced to continue the summon.

And so he did, his chakra was quickly draining though, and just as he was about to stop, Bee came up behind him and started to transfer his chakra into him. With the renewed strength, he was able to summon the Shinigami and ask for him to seal Madara away. The god agreed upon the terms that Naruto's soul would be his as well, without a moments hesitation Naruto agreed.

Before Madara could be fully sealed, Bee fell to the ground, asleep to the world with a content smile on his lips. Biting back the tears that threatened to fall, Naruto put in the last of his chakra and sealed away the ancient Uchiha. Slowly, his eyes drifted closed as well.

"Thank you for everything Kurama."

"Thank you as well Naruto. I hope you get the afterlife that you deserve."

"Goodbye Kurama."

"Goodbye my host."

He closed his eyes fighting back regret, he really wanted to stay together with Kurama and get to know him better. No, he wouldn't fight it. He had promised his soul to the Shinigami for helping him. He wouldn't back out now. No. The would be like spitting on the faces of all his friends that had died in this war. Quietly he waited for the end to come. The only thing he would regret would be not being able to see his parents one last time.

"You can open your eyes little one."

Great. Now he had company in the god's stomach.

"You're not in my stomach."

Not in the stomach huh? Then where was he? The brain?

"No you idiot. You are not inside me."

Not inside you huh? Wouldn't that be the dream..wait what? Gasping, Naruto shot up from his position on the ground and frantically looked around him. His head stopped spinning after he saw him. It was a man of about 30 years of age. Maybe older with his white hair, but one could never be too sure, after all Kakashi had silver hair n he was only in his early thirties at most. Not to mention the fact that the man in front of him was exceedingly handsome. A light blush dusted Naruto's face when that thought ran through his head again. He did not just think that about man did he? This is what he got for dieing a virgin. Stupid life. He was brought out of his musing and an amused chuckle. He looked at the man again and narrowed his eyes.

"Who are you?"

"Oh come now little one. I'm sure you can figure this out yourself."

"The Shinigami."

The man looked at him with a smile, "I'm glad you aren't playing stupid with me."

"The least I can do I swear," he replied sarcastically.

A soft chuckle left his mouth, yes, he knew he liked this boy for a reason. Now the really matter was on how to tell him the deal...or rather how to get him to agree to it, for the young man had gone through a living hell it was the least he could do for him.

"Ok kid. Here's the deal. You died too young. You are going to get another chance at life. And to make things easier on you, you can choose people to come with you. However I can't guarantee that you will see them immediately. You will most likely see them but not for a while."

"And what's the catch?"

"What catch? There's no catch."

"There's always a catch. What is it this time?"

"Fine. You will look a bit different because I will be sending you to another universe and you'll have siblings. That's about it."

"Ok. So about the people I can bring. Can I bring anyone? And will I remember any of the life I just led?"

"No, not really. It's probably for the best that you don't remember most. Well to be more precise you'll remember til you're born anew. But when you see the people you choose to bring with you that necklace you have on will heat up. That's just a little present from me. And since the world you are going to is quite...different. You will need an ability. I have decided that since you had an affinity towards air in your...previous life. You will have the same ability in your next life. But only you. So who are you bringing?"

"All of the other Jinchuuriki. They deserve to live a new life after all that they went through. And what do you mean by born anew? Am I going to be reborn?"

"Ok. Anyone else?"

"And...the Akatsuki. Wait what will happen to the Bijuu? Will they be alright? And you still didn't answer my question!"

"Why? Didn't they take kill most of the other Jinchuuriki? And as for the Bijuu, well I suppose that since you wanted the Jinchuuriki to come with you...I can't really separate them from their Bijuu now can I."

"Yes. But...they didn't have all they great of a life themselves. Most of their situation pressed them to doing what they did. So yes. The rest of the Jinchuuriki and the Akatsuki. My question!"

The Shinigami couldn't help but be in awe at the young man in front of him. The little child had such a large heart that it was unbelievable. He knew that if it was any other person, they wouldn't have ever done what he just did. The Shinigami nodded his head. As for the answer to his question...well he'd seen sooner or later...plus it was a surprise. Why would he ruin it by telling him?

"Very well. What you have asked shall be granted. Have fun little one."

"Wait-wh-"

Before he could finish his question he was whisked away. By what he couldn't tell, but it was like a large gust of wind. Then he finally came to, he felt went and his eyes wouldn't open and he felt kicking. Then after what seemed like forever of dark nothing-ness...everything started to get tight and just really wanted to get out. And so he fought for the way out, it was a very, very tight passage and fight to get out. And he after giving it his all he was finally out.

Ah.

Space. One thing he had wished for most of all, well...other than getting away from that awful kicking! Then suddenly he was turned upside down and his butt slapped. He let out a loud wail, that had really hurt! Then there was another wailing accompanying him. The last thing he heard before all his memories where taken away was, "my beautiful firstborn, this beautiful girl will be named Ann, and her little brother, he will be named Ace."

The little baby opened her eyes to reveal a startling cerulean color, one that put the skies of the heavens and the waters of the earth pale in comparison.

Uzumaki Naruto had reborn.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Please drop a review!! THANK YOU!!


	2. The Future First Mate

Last Time  
The little baby opened her eyes to reveal a startling cerulean color, one that put the skies of the heavens and the waters of the earth pale in comparison.

Uzumaki Naruto had reborn.  
Chapter 2: The Future First Mate

"Onee-chan!! Wait up!!" Yelled a little boy about the age of ten, trying to keep up with his elder sister. His black hair sticking to his freckled face, the boy gasped trying to even out his breath. His damn sister, whenever he thought that he had finally gotten faster than her, she just comes in and completely destroys the little pride he had. 

Said sister however, didn't care, she just smirked and speed up. It had been a...good-in a way- ten years for the blonde girl and her brunette brother. Sure they got into fights and got banged up sometimes but...really...who didn't? 

"Onee-chan!! Wait!! How many times has jji-chan told us that we had to wait for each other?!"

" Ace! When have you ever listened to what Garp Jji-chan has ever said?!" The young girl yelled back at her younger brother.

"Only when is concerns you!" The boy yelled back trailing further and further behind her.

The girl sigh, but slowed down so he could catch up with her. This little girl's name was Gol D. Anne. Or thats at least what she called herself when only her family was around. For she knew that if she were to go and tell anyone else that she the the former Pirate Kings daughter then then Marines would be down so fast on her and her brother that not even Kami-sama would have time to hide. 

So instead of being known as Gol D. Anne and Gol D. Ace, they were know as Portgas D. Anne and Ace. It did protect them...to an extent. There was still the whole- them getting into trouble because they started it- thing. Anne shook her head. She didn't blame those people.for saying all those stuff about her father. She wasn't as naive as people tought she was, she knew that her father wasn't the nicest of people, after all he was a pirate. But no matter all the bad thing he might have done, or the bad things people said about him, she knew from here jii-chan that he loved their mother.

So in retrospect, he couldn't be all that bad. A small hand grabbing her own, snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked to her right to see her little brother looked at her worriedly, she rose her eyebrow in response.

"I was called your name like ten times. You didn't reply so I thought something was wrong."

Anne could help the smile that appeared on her face, without a doubt she really loved her little brother. She always wanted another one, though she knew that was pretty much impossible. But the their Grap jii-chan called them last year and introduced them to her little Luffy. It was love at first sight...platonically of course. 

He...he was what she and Ace could have been. If they weren't them. If their parents weren't who they were. But can't change that now can a person? Back to the point, she really did like Luffy, another little brother for her. Well another for her one, but mostly a little brother for Sabo. After all, he was the youngest...though...she supposed that now thanks to Luffy, he would no longer be...as long as Ace and Sabo accepted him. Which to be honest...he was getting quite close, just a bit more, mostly to show that he can take care of himself or that he is willing to help one of the two and he would be included in their little group. 

Anne shook her head, really, today would mark the third month since Luffy came to live with them and the bandits, these boys really needed to see beyond who had more guts. Though it was not like they realized they were competing or that they, Ace and Sabo, were in fact testing little Luffy. Testing for what, it was hard determine seeing as to how it was a lot of things meshed together. Anne sighed, her brothers were really something else.

"Ace, when are you going to accept Luffy?"

"Never."

"Ace! Don't be like that. He has been trying hard to get along with you guys."

"Us? What about you?"

"Luffy and I get along just fi-"

Anne was cut off by a bush rustling. She and Ace tensed. Could it be someone from the Terminal? They got themselves ready for any sort of attack. Those Terminal bastards were tricky. The rustling got louder. As they got ready to strike first, a head of bright red hair popped out. 

Anne and Ace could only blink as a small, obviously well nourished, pale body crawl out. Cautiously, Anne stepped towards the body and grabbed it by the arms. Slowly, as to not hurt the person, lifted the body up, she ended up starring into cold, pale jade eyes.

The arms, of the now obvious female, was wretched out of Anne's hands. The was a moment of silence as two stared at one and one starred back at two. Each trying to take the other in, not that it was easy seeing as to how the female's face was blank. As the silence went on, Anne so got tired of it and decided it was time some spoke.

"Hi! I'm Anne and this is my brother Ace. What's your name?"

"Hello," she bowed, "my name is Ichigo."

Anne let out a squeal of joy as she jumped at the other girl. She was just too cute to be left without hugging, especially with that pout she give while introducing herself. As Anne twirled Ichigo around, Ace couldn't help but wonder what this rich girl was doing here. For she so obviously was rich, most shown by the type of clothes she was wearing or the way she spoke.

"Anne let her go. We need to know what this outsider is doing here."

"Ace! Be nice," though she knew, as she let Ichigo down, that he had a point, it wasn't all the time that a noble would come into their neck of the woods.

"So Miss, what are you doing here? Are you lost or something?"

Ichigo let out a soft huff, and turned her head in an I-don't-need-to-tell-you sort of manner. Which in turn ticked of the pair of twin, for neither liked to be ignored. Taking a move out of their jii-chan's playbook, Anne decided that two could play the girls game. 

"Fine. If you don't want to tell us, you don't have too. Let's go Ace. We're just wasting our time."

"But-"

"Let's. Go. Ace."

Ace nodded, not wanting to face the person behind that fierce voice. No one ever wanted to mess with Anne when that voice was being used, bad things followed it. It was almost as if her voice was forcing you obey. It was especially weird because no one, not even the bandits, would stand up to her and even their jii-chan would look.at her with such pride in his eyes. So it was an of course that he knew to just go along with what she said. 

As they both moved forward past the redhead, a hand shot out and grabbed Anne's arm. Anne however just let out a snort and turned to face the other ten year old. Ichigo released Anne's arm, and lowered her head. Quiet sniffling was heard. Anne and Ace started to freak out, they had no idea what to do about crying little girls. Anne was after all the only girl the either of them had any constant relations with and even then Anne never cried. Well neither of them ever remembered Anne crying. So all this was new terrain, a terrain neither sibling wanted to step into. Then something strange happened. As if knowing how to make the girl stop crying, Anne lifted her hand and ruffled the girls hair before pulling her into hug and slowly rubbing her back.

"Hush now, tell me what's wrong and my brother and I will try our best to help you ok?"

The girl shook her head into Anne's shoulder, "there is nothing you can do. Unless you can stop my father from making me marry that ugly lard, nothing is going to help!"

The Portgas sibling stood in shock, marriage?! Wasn't it little too early for little girl get married?

"Hold on. Are you tell me that you're getting married?!"

"Yes."

"But how!? You're too young! Is that even legal?"

Ichigo looked at her, confusion shown in her eyes. Did this girl think that she was going to get married now? 

"Of course not baka! I'll have to marry him when I get older...but he's so old now! I don't want to marry an old man!"

"So you ran away?"

The redhead reluctantly nodded her head. She hoped that these two kids wouldn't take her back to town! There was no way that she would marry that ugly lard! The redhead started to tense, the more she frightened herself, the more she shook. Anne shook her head, really, the people around her really needed to learn how to ask for help when they needed it. Especially those brunettes of hers, more so Luffy than Ace. Oh that Luff- Anne whirled around quickly. Wheres was that little boy? He should have caught up to them by now. She frantically turned her head in each and every direction searching for him. 

"Anne?"

She turned back face Ace, "Luffy."

"Luffy?" He asked back confused.

"Yes. Luffy. Do you hear him? Because I can't hear a damn thing!! Oh man this kid is gonna be the death of me!"

"Ok Anne, calm down. The little brat probably just got lost. It's happened before!"

"Yes. But I was following him then you idiot!"

"Why?"

"Why...? What do you mean why you dumbass! He is seven! I had to make sure he didn't die! What do you think Ji-chan would have said to us if he found out we let our little brother die?"

"He is not my little brother!"

"Ace! Fine. Don't accept him. But I promise you, with his perseverance, we will all end up as siblings. I'm going to go look for him."

"No. If he doesn't find us on his own, he'll probably just get pissed off. An hour then go look for him. Not that I'm going to help."

"Of course not." Anne hated to admit it but he did have a point, Luffy would get pissed off if he didn't find them himself, "fine. An hour. But what do we do with the little strawberry?"

"I'm not a strawberry!"

The siblings turned to her, both giving her a dubious look, one of those sarcastic 'sure you aren't's. 

"Let's take her there, then all three of us can decide what to do."

"Three? What third?Where are you taking me?"

"Calm down little princess, our friend and we are just taking you to our hiding spot."

"I'll ask again. Where are you taking me? An actually name please."

Ace and Anne looked at each other, smirked, appeared on each side of Ichigo, grabbed her arms, and led her away. Behind them, Anne could hear a voice calling out for them, it sounded only a couple yards away. Yep. Little Luffy sure had some tracking skills on him, either that or he had the nose of a blood hound. Then again it probably wasn't all that hard to find them seeing as to the redhead beside her wouldn't stop talking. Getting ticked off by nonstop talking, Anne took her free left hand and smacked it over Ichigo's mouth and kept it there. 

Slowly but surely they made it to, probably one of the most smelliest places in the world, the Grey Terminal. Even for her and Ace whom had been coming to this place for a long time, the smell still bothered them, if only a little bit. She could just imagine what was going through Ichigo's and Luffy's, once he reached, noses. 

Loosening their grip on the new girl, Ace and Anne pulled her over to their hiding spot, well...it was more like their treasure(money) hiding spot. 

"Hey Sabo," Ace whispered not wanting anyone to know they were there, "sorry about being late, we got a bit side tracked."

"Yeah, well while you two took your sweet time," he said not looking at them yet, "I already went into town and did the job."

Anne and Ace smirked, "Oh yeah? Well so did we," they replied, as they climbed-helping Ichigo-up the tree and showed him the bag of money and jewels. 

"And here is the reason we are so late," and said pushing Ichigo towards Sabo, allowing him to get his first good look at her. Subsequently, the strangest thing happened, "Ichigo?"

"SABO?! I thought you died!" She exclaimed as to reached out and grabbed him into a hug. Ace and Anne exchanged looks, seems like there was something their dearest Sabo forgot to mention. They cleared their throat so the two of them could break apart, thus making them have to answer questions. 

"So you two know each other huh?"

"Yeah. And I'd rather not tell you how right now." Sabo replied with a serious face. The siblings nodded their heads, they'd let it go...for now.

"Anyways, Sabo, how are you alive. I was told you ran away and probably died in the forest! And why are you stealing all this money?"

Sabo sheepishly scratched the back of his neck, as he put all the money away, "Yeah, I did run away. No, i am obviously not dead. And we are stealing this money because we are going to by a pirate ship. Though how much we will need is still unknown."

"We'll know when the time comes, but for know close it, who knows who could be watching-"

Whatever Anne was about to say was cut off by a loud yell of "PIRATE SHIP!? You guys want to be pirates? Me too!"

Anne could honestly say that the faces that the two of them made when they saw Luffy would be forever etched in her mind. Laughing she and Ichigo followed the two boys down the tree. Luffy , now tied to the tree trunk, looked at the siblings and smiled, "So Ace, Anne, this is where you guys disappear of to?"

"Shut it!" Ace replied ticked off, while Anne snickered, though she was slightly ticked off as well, though not about Luffy finding them, more about the fact that he called her Anne, without the nee-chan attached. Anne threw that thought out of her head, it was understandable why he didn't call her that, they hadn't earned each others complete trust yet. She looked to see Sabo and Ace staring at Luffy, "So this is the Luffy guy you were talking about..."

Ace didn't reply, but addressed Luffy instead, "So you finally came all the way here...and you did it by using a path that even a human couldn't walk through."

Both comments bounce off Luffy while he face Sabo asking, "Hey! Are you Ace and Anne's friend? Let's be friends!"

Which once again rewarded him with a "Shut it!," from Sabo this time. "See this is why I told the two of you to live here with me. See Ace that stupid 'Mountain Training Path' of yours sure came and bit you is the butt huh? What should we do with him?"

"Yes well, now that he knows, if we leave him alone he could go off and blabber it to anyone...let's kill him."

"I agree!"

"WHAAAAT!??"

Anne just shook really, these boys were going to be the dead of her. She watched as Sabo and Ace tried to restrain Luffy. 

"Don't move, you idiot!" Yelled Sabo, pushing up Luffy's jaw. 

"I didn't think you guys were gonna kill me! Help me I don't wanna die!" Luffy screamed back.

"Sabo. Do it!"

"What are you talking about, you do it!"

"I've never killed a person!"

"Same here! I don't know how to do it!"

Anne heard Ichigo giggling, a small smile appeared on her face at the pure idiocy of the boys conversation. 

"HEEEELLLPPP!!!" One shouted at the top of his lungs, followed by a "SHUT UP!!", from the other two. Unfortunately, this time they were a bit too loud. 

"Hey! I hear voice from here! Children's voices!" A male voice called out.

"Crap! Someone's coming!" Sabo exclaimed.  
The five of them tensed before jumping into action. "First get the ropes off him. We have to get out of here or they'll find out treasure!"

Ichigo and Anne helped Sabo untie Luffy, then hid behind a bush. Peeking out of the bush, they saw a large, very large, man. A pirate no doubt, if his giant sword and tattoo were anything to go by. And apparently they were talking about them. 

"Those children, Anne, Ace, and Sabo, you're telling me about are famous around here. You sure it was Ace and Anne that took your money?"

"Yes, the girl distracted me. I'm ashamed they caught me by surprise."

"What stupid children. To take money from our crew. If Captain Bluejam hears about this he'll kill us both."

"Shit!" Ace whispered, "He works for Bluejam! We've got some dangerous cash here!"

"He's got a really sword! That Porschemy! Have you heard of him? He's crazy! He skins the heads of his opponents!" Sabo whispered to them.Well if that didn't freak them out, the fact that Luffy wasn't in the bushes with them did.

"What? Where is he?" Sabo asked.

"Ah." Ace and Anne let out in surprise. There in front of them was Luffy being help upside down by the Porschemy. 'Why did you go to the enemy!' They screamed in their minds.

"DAMN YOU! LET GO OF ME!! Ace! Anne! Help me!" 

The four of them ducked behind the bushes, they couldn't believe he was stupid enough to call them out!

"Did you just say Ace and Anne? Do you know them?"

"Ya! They're my friends! Though Ace did try to kill me just now!"

The one behind the bush the face palmed, he just kept talking didn't he?

"I'm going to ask you one thing. Today they took out money and ran...do you happen to know where it is?"

All the children tensed, "No! They'll find our treasure," Sabo said, followed by Ace saying that Luffy better not be and idiot and say something. A similar thought was running through Anne's head, no matter how much she liked the little boy, if he told the giant of a man where their treasure was hidden, she'd kill him herself! 

Luffy tensed, he couldn't tell this man, if he did, the three of them could never be friends, so he did what he had to do, eyes looking towards the side and mouth taking up a whistling shape, he said "I..I do not know."

Of course the bad lie was caught for what it was. Porschemy started to laugh, "You leave me no choice then! Heh heh," he laughed walking away, Luffy still in his hand, "I'll make you tell us. Don't worry." 

"HEY! WAIT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! LET GO OF ME! WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME?!"

The other children could only watch in fear as the youngest was taken away. 

 

&!&!&!&!&&!&!&!&!&!

so what do you think? R&R??


	3. Together Through Thick or Thin

'This kid much more trouble than he's worth, was one of the thoughts that ran through Anne's head as she and the boys hid away all their gold. Ichigo helped some as well, but she could see that Ichigo was just as worried about Luffy as she was. It was sundown by the time they had finished hiding away all the gold. Sabo had gone ahead to see if any of Blue Jam's or Polchemy's crew were anywhere near them. 

"Ace! Anne!"

The two looked down from their tree to see a panting Sabo down below, "Sabo! How'd it go? Did they come looking for the treasure over there?"

Sabo gasped for air, "no, they haven't come!! They have no reason too! Ace, Anne... Luffy hasn't spilled the beans yet!!"

Anne's and Ace's eyes widened, "huh?" they couldn't believe what they had just heard, had he really not told them anything? Now there was only one thing to do, Anne turned to Ichigo, "stay here and guard this place with your life. Ace, Sabo let's go. We have a little brother to save."

The two nodded their heads as Anne jumped down from the tree, the moment her feet touched the ground, the three were off. It took them some time but they were able to reach Pirate Cove without anyone noticing them. Just as they reached, they heard something that made their blood run cold. 

"Who do you think you are to keep a secret, you little brat!!?"

"I won't tell you!! I won't tell you!"

"Then fine! You're going to die."

'NO!'

Without a second thought the three of them charged in, breaking their way threw the wooden wall, "Stop it!!" they screamed. There was no way they were going to allow this bastard to kill their friend! 

"It's them!! Polchemy-san! They're the ones who took your money!!! Damn it!!"

"ACE!!! ANNE!!" A blubbering Luffy cried out. Just then Polchemy grabbed Ace by the neck, "now that you're here things will go quicker!! Your friend's so tight lipped, I was getting annoyed."

"Anne! Sabo!" 

"Huh?" Confused Polchemy looked around only to be hit on the back of his head with a pipe. Knocking Polchemy down, Sabo and Ace fought off the other's while Anne cut Luffy out of the ropes. She's held onto him as she ran towards her brothers. 

“Ace! Sabo!! Come on let’s go!!” She yelled unfortunately for her, her twin wasn’t all that sane in head when it came to standing in front of danger. 

“Go ahead of me!!”

“Ace! You idiot what are you doing? Let’s go!” Anne screamed at her brother, really these idiot were going to be the death of her!

“Once I’ve faced an enemy I never run!!” Ace yelled back his back towards they.

“He has a sword!! He’s not like the rest of the punks in town!!” Sabo exclaimed to him. 

Anne turned to Sabo, “here you take Luffy and run, I’ll help that idiot,” she handed Luffy over to Sabo and ran to help her twin. 

“Hey don’t you think you’re giving into your urges a little too much?” Polchemy questioned, “just handover the money nice and easy, ya little dirt bag.” 

Ace glared at the man in front of him, “We can use the money for a better cause than you.”

Enraged the giant of a man raised his sword, “Enough of this bullshit!”

‘Shit!’ Anne watched as Polchemy’s sword cut through Ace’s pipe. 

“If I lose to a kid, I’ll give up piracy!”

The twins stood side by side and got ready to fight. They would make it out of here and nothing would stop them!

XXXXXX

The four bruised children sat together later that night, all of them bandaged. Ichigo was still sleeping, she refused to leave when she saw the four battered kids. She had helped bandage them up, and had only fallen asleep an hour ago. 

“UEEEEEEEENNN DUUUOOOOOOOOON!” Luffy sat there crying, as Anne and Sabo took turns scolding Ace. 

“’Once I’ve faced an enemy I never run’ what the hell were you thinking!?’” 

“Man...Ace that’s one bad habit you got there.” 

“What the hell were you thinking, talking to a real pirate like that!? Did the overwhelming urge to be stupid just burst out?!” 

“Like you’re one to talk Anne. What about you? What was that back there?”A stunned silence reigned on everyone mind. What Anne had done in there was something that shocked the four of them and the pirates in the room. Anne wasn’t too sure how to explain it herself, all she knew was that Polchemy was about to hurt her brother, she had gotten really mad, yelled and then they fell to the floor passed out. 

“I... I don’t know Ace. I have no idea what happened. I felt this this deep need of wanting to protect the three of you and I got angry when he swung his sword at you, then the feeling burst out.”

The other three thought about what she said for a moment before Luffy started to blubber up again. “that was so shcarry... I fwougt I wash gunna die!!” 

“Shuddup! Just how long are you gonna cry for any way?! I hate weaklings and crybabies! You really piss me off!” That shut Luffy right up. 

“Oh.” Ace and Anne said together holding in their laughter at Luffy's face, he was trying so hard to keep it in, biting both his lips together and everything. 

“...Thank you.” Luffy said as he bowed to the three of them, beginning to cry again, “for...saving me...ooh...”

“Why you!!!” Ace yelled as Luffy started crying. Anne held him back as Sabo tried to talk him away from adding any more injuries to Luffy’s body, “Hey hey!! He’s just trying to thank you!” Ace quieted down, “...Anyway how come you didn’t spill the beans? Those guys have no qualms about killing women and children!!!” 

“If I told, you wouldn’t be my friends...!!” 

“That’s better than dying isn’t it!? Why’d you want to be our friend anyways? After all I’ve done to you?! And you finally followed me all the way here!?”

“Cause!! There’s no one else!!” Luffy bellowed out, causing a twinge of pain go through the older godchildren hearts, “I can’t go back to Windmill Village..and I hate bandits..!! If I hadn’t followed you...I’d be all alone...and I’d rather hurt than suffer alone!”

Anne scrunched her forehead in confusion, “what about your parents?”

“There’s only grandpa.”

“..so it’s not suffering to be with us..? You need us?” Ace asked as Anne squeezed his hand, “Yeah.”

Memories of how the people in the kingdom said that they were devils and demons and should never have been born flashed through their minds. 

“Do you want me...us...to live?”

“Of course!!” Luffy yelled out without hesitation though a little confused. Anne smiled, tears brimming in her eyes as she squeezed Ace’s hand even tighter, “...I see...But I hate spoiled brats like you.” Ace said lowering his head as to hide his relieved smile. 

“I’m not spoiled!! I’m strong!” Shouted Luffy angry at being called spoiled.

“Strong?” Ace mocked, “How are you strong? Look at you crying like a little girl!!”

Anne twitched a little at that comment, but stood an watched as an enraged Luffy got up into Ace’s face, “Have you ever been hit with spikes?! I’m only seven!! When I’m ten like you,I’ll never cry!!”

“I didn’t cry even when I was seven! Stupid! Don’t think I’m like you!”

Behind him, Anne snorted at Ace’s reply, he had cried just the other day when he had stubbed his toe on a tree root. “I’m gonna be stronger than everyone!!” Luffy bellowed out, “I promised Shanks that I’d be the best pirate ever!”

“Pirate!? You??” Ace questioned sarcastically, Anne smile softly, she could see the imaginary sparks that flew between them. 

“Hey, we’ve got another problem,” Sabo interrupted, “I’ve always lived here in the dump...but now we’re gonna has those pirates after us. They probably want us dead.”

Anne smirked, “Well that just means we have to get stronger and watch our backs, doesn’t it?” The three males looked at her and nodded, from now on they couldn’t afford to lose to anyone. 

Anne slid to the floor and laid on her back, she looked to the boys, “Alright guys, let’s go to sleep, we’re gonna have to speak to Dadan tomorrow and we’ll need all our energy for that.” 

The three followed her example and went to sleep. Tomorrow would, without a doubt, be an...interesting day.

~!~!~!~!~!~!

“What is the meaning of this?! Ace! Anne! Luffy!! What is this the meaning of this?! Why are there other ones?!” Yelled an enraged Dadan pointing at Sabo and Ichigo. Sabo, instead of being intimidated walked right up to Dadan an shook her hand, “Hey!! You’re Dadan right?! I’m Sabo.” 

“Sabo? I know that name! I’ve heard you’re a real little shit!!” 

“Really...? Well, I’ve heard you’re a real bitch!!” Sabo shot back laughing. 

“Where’d you hear that?!” Dadan narrowed her eyes at little little twerp in front of her, kid had a mouth on him that was for sure, she turned to her head to the little girl, “and you are?” 

“Her name’s Ichigo, she ran into us yesterday when she was trying to get away from her parents who were forcing her to get engaged,” answered Anne instead. 

“Are you noble girl?” Dadan questioned, if she was there was no way she would allow the girl to stay. If the people in the kingdom found out that bandits were keeping a noble, a girl, especially in their home, there would without a doubt be a riot on their hands. Above all she had to keep Anne, Ace, and Luffy safe, “I’m sorry Anne, but she has to go home. If her family were to find her with us...Who knows what they would do to us, to you guys especially!!” 

“But Dadan! They’re trying to force her to get engaged! Like to get married!! She’s too young!”

“I know that Anne, but she has to face up to them herself, she’s putting us all in danger by staying here!”

“But Dadan-!”

“NO! That’s final!”

Anne glared at the bandit, it just wasn’t fair, why couldn’t they help this girl? Dadan sighed at her, “Anne, would you want to help her only to have her family hurt your brother instead? Think about it Anne, I know you want to help but you’ll be putting these three in danger.” 

Anne paused, no matter how much she wanted to save Ichigo from her fate, she would never put anything before her brother and friends, they were all she had in this cursed life...she turned and looked at Ichigo... “I’m sorry Strawberry..but you can’t stay here, I can’t loose these guys.”

Ichigo stared at her for a moment before she smiled, “It’s ok. It’s too much for me to ask kids like me for help. Please don’t be sad or anything, I understand why you’re picking them. But can we still be friends?” 

Anne pulled her into her arms and hugged her tight, “of course we can. Once I make a friend we never forget each other.”

Ichigo squeezed her back, “Thank you Anne. If you come to town we can see each other!!” Anne nodded her head, she wasn’t going to let this girl go without a fight. 

Months passed as the three siblings, and the occasional redhead, got into trouble, trained, and grew closer to one another. Of course, fighting the giant animals that lived in the forest together tend to do that. And then everything changed when the Tenryubito came to visit the kingdom of Goa. 

~!~!~!~!~!~!

"Gomu Gomu No," winding up his right arm, "Pistol!!!," Luffy yelled, only for his arm to hit the ground and then rebound and hit his forehead. 

"I told you..." Ace said backing up, before doing a double kick right to Luffy's cheek, "what the hell are you doing!!?" 

"Ace wins again." Sabo said with a grin, as he marked it down on their tally board. So far Anne was number one, with Ace and he a close second, Ichigo, and at the not even close end, was the very same boy who just lost. 

"Does that power of yours even have a purpose?" Ace asked, genuinely confused, why would anyone want such a useless ability?

"Damn it! I can't do it right. If it's done what I thought, you've would have been all bam-bam-bam."

"Right."

"One more time!"

"Nope, you only get a hundred fights a day. Save your energy for tomorrow."

Pouting, their youngest turned to Anne, "Nee-chan! What about you?!"

Anne snorted, "defeat the ones ahead of you before you try and fight me."

"Nee-chan? Since when did this start?"

"Why not? You call her nee-chan, and I respect her, so I call her nee-chan!"

"Then why aren't we called nii-san? Don't you respect us?"

Luffy looked away, not willing to meet their eyes, "I do, but..." he mumbled. Ace and Sabo's eyes narrowed, "but what?", they asked getting ready to pound him. 

"Let off it guys, let's go get dinner." Anne called out, jumping off a tree branch. She stretched as her hit the ground, "I feel like gator tonight."

~!~!~!~!~!~!

In the harsh environment of Mt. Corbo, they grew stronger and bigger day by day, until they could sit only each others shoulders(with a cloak over them), when they went through the gate of the Grey Terminal, and not seem like a shrimp. Of course that didn't mean that people still didn't pick fights, after all, they were coming from the dump. 

"Hey, you came from the dump, didn't you?"

"What have you got there!? Show us!!"

"Shut up, you punks!" Anne yelled as pulled off the cloak. 

"Oh...it's them!!

The four kids ended up beating up the weak punks that tried to mug them, before they went of their way to eat some lunch. They ended up at a top floor shop, ate their full and jumped out of the window. 

"They didn't pay their bill! Someone arrest them!" The owner yelled, enraged and confused.

"That was great!" Sabo said to Ace as gravity pulled them to the ground.

Grinning, "I told you!" Ace said, before the four of them, caught a pole or bounced on a rain shelter, to break their fall. 

"Not those four again! They're known criminals! Why did you let them in your shop?!" A policeman questioned. He called out to others, "Don't let those four kids get away! Someone grab them!"

The commotion attracted the attention of another man, he looked over and his eyes widened in astonishment, "Sabo!? Sabo, is that you?! Come back! You're alive! Come home!!"

Sabo turned back surprised, before he concentrated even more on running away. The other three, thoroughly intrigued, sped up, "Hey Sabo, someone's calling you."

"Come back!"

"Who's that?!" Asked Luffy, his cheeks full of food. 

"He mistook me for someone else. Don't worry about it."

Anne's eyes narrowed, if she knew Sabo as well as she thought she did, he was definitely hiding something. She had a feeling what it was, but she would wait to ask till Sabo was comfortable enough to tell them what it was. The moment they touched the base, Luffy and Ace were on him like the bears in the forest.  
”  
"WELL? Who was he!?"

"Why was he calling you're name!?"

"Tell us!"

"What are you hiding?!"

"What? Nothing!!"

"Oh...really?" Luffy asked believing him, Ace not so much," I won't fall for that! Spit it out!! Do you really think there should be secrets between us?"

"Spit it out."

When he didn't say anything the two other boy started to chock the blonde, "Spit it out, damn it! I'm gonna kick your ass!!"

"GAH!! AH! Stop! I'll talk! I'll talk!"

Or you know...until her younger brothers decided to 'ask'. No tact what so ever. Anne sighed, oh well, might as well sit and listen.

"I am the son of a noble."

"The son of a noble?!" Ace and Luffy yelled together, "who is?"

".....ME!!"

"So?"

"You're the ones who asked!" He yelled back, starting to get annoyed.

Anne interrupted before any more 'blood' could be shed, "why don't you start from the beginning Sabo?"

"...the truth is, I have two parents...I'm not an orphan. And I wasn't born in the dump. The guy who tried to stop me was my dad. I'm sorry I lied to you guys." 

So she was right, "that's your business Sabo. No matter who your parents are, you are still my younger brother."

"Yep! You apologized anyways, so all's forgiven."

"It's a bit of a shock. If you were born a noble...what are you doing in the dump?"

Sabo went quiet for a while, "all they cared about was someone to protect their fortune and status. They don't care about me. If I can't marry a member of the royal family, I'm nothing but trash. So I studied and took lessons day in and day out. My parents fought over how poorly I did. I was nothing but a hindrance to them.

"I'm sorry to say this to you, but though I had two parents, I was alone. The nobles despise the dump...but it seemed better to me. Better than living a life that had been planned many of years ago in that stifling High Town."

"So that's what happened."

"Ace! Anne! Luffy! Promise we'll set sail!! That we'll escape this kingdom and be free!! I want to see the world and write a book about it! Studying navigation won't be a hardship at all! Let's get stronger and become pirates!"

The three grinned from ear, of course they were going to get out of this island and make a name for themselves.

Ace took in a deep breath, "Heehee! I would do that even if you hadn't suggested it!! I'm gonna be a pirate and win and win and win! I'll be famous! That's the only way to prove I was alive! No matter how much people reject and hate me! I'm gonna be famous pirate and show them all! I won't run from anyone! I won't lose to anyone and I'll never be afraid or anything! I'm gonna make the world remember my name!"

"Shishishi! Oh yeah? All right," Luffy said gearing up to one up Ace's declaration, "Well I gonna be the Pirate King!"

"Huh?" Ace and Sabo asked confused. Luffy just laughed it off, "the things you say..."

"Ahahahaha, that's great Luffy! I look forward to seeing your future!" Sabo said, clutching his stomach.

Anne shook her head, her little brothers really were the greatest. She would never ask for different one. 

"What about you Anne?" Sabo asked, the three boys looked at her curiously, waiting with a baited breath, wondering what she would say. 

"I'm gonna change the world, or rule it. Either that comes first."

"You're crazy. You and Luffy both!"

Anne grinned and throw her arm around Luffy's shoulders, "Well that's why we are older sister and younger brother!"

Ace and Sabo shook their head, but they wouldn't...no. They couldn't doubt it, Anne was going to do amazing things. It was bound to be. Sabo's eyes narrowed, "Wait...how can we all be Captain?"

"I thought about that. Sabo, I thought for sure you'd be the navigator."

"You guys can be on my ship!"

Anne snorted, "No, no. This is easily resolved. I will be the head Captain that makes sure you guys are always safe, or at least kept alive, and you guys are three separate captains that work under me working to fulfill your dreams," seeing as Luffy really didn't understand, she explained it in simpler terms, "the three of you will go out and form your own crews and do what you need too, but in the end, no matter how big and famous you get, you will always tell me where you are had how you are doing. It is my job as the eldest to make sure your alive and living. Do I make myself clear?" 

The three just stared at her and slowly nodded before Ace sighed, pulling out a bottle of sake, "Anyways, let's leave future decisions for the future."

"So we'll definitely be on separate ships huh?"

"Yep," Anne said, "as much as I'd love for all of us to stay together, for our individual dreams, we need to find a crew of our own. Where'd you get the sake?"

"Oh! You stole some of Dandan's liquor?!" Luffy exclaimed, slightly frightened. 

"Did you guys know," Ace continued, pouring the sake into four cups, completely ignoring them, "If you share a drink, you can become brothers."

Luffy got all giddy and excited, "Brothers?! Really?!"

"We might not be on the same ship when we become pirates, but this will bind us as brothers!! no matter where we are or what we do, nothing can break this bond...!! From today on we're brother!!"

"Yeah!!" The other three exclaimed together clinking cups, for there was no doubt in anyone's mind that even if Anne was a girl, she was their big brother. They drank the sake and placed the cups back on the tree stump. Now that that was out of the way, Anne reached around and pulled the skin pouch attached to her hip out of its knot. She looked at the three of them with a smile, as she watched them looking at the pouch in unveiled curiosity. She pulled it open and shook its contents into her open palm. It was four rings, one blue stoned, one red stoned, one yellow stoned, and the last one with a stone that looked to be mixture of the three colors. She handed the red one to Ace, the yellow to Sabo, and the blue to Luffy, and put on the last one herself. They followed her lead and placed them on the ring finger of their right hand. 

She looked them all in the eyes, "from now on nothing will separate us. Not adventure, not arguments, not storms, not death. We will always be brothers. And this ring is my present to my little brothers. Promise me right here and now that you will never take it off."

The three nodded, a little worried. Anne shook her head, "no. I need you guys to say it out loud. I will not take it off."

"Why Anne?"

"Just say it."

The three boys exchanged glances and nodded at each other, "I will not take the ring off."

Anne smiled a small sweet smile, "thank you."

"Hey nee-chan! Where'd you get these anyways?"

"I found them the other day," she said with a mysterious smile, and that was the end of that conversations. She knew they were curious, but there was time. She smiled softly to herself. Yes, the four of them were going to make a name for themselves in this harsh world, there was no doubt about it.

..........  
R&R let me know what you think!


	4. He was Behind Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last Time: "I found them the other day," she said with a mysterious smile, and that was the end of that conversations. She knew they were curious, but there was time. She smiled softly to herself. Yes, the four of them were going to make a name for themselves in this harsh world, there was no doubt about it.

Days passed, weeks followed, and months ran away. The four, and occasionally five, fought together, bathed together, ate together, went on adventures together and much more. They met Luffy friend Makino(and the village mayor), she thought that they were all cute and might have been a little appalled that a pretty little girl like Anne was living in the woods with them, but she wouldn't try to changed that, the other three wouldn't let her go without a fight and Anne would probably put up and even bigger fight than the other three. She just smiled and brought clothes and sake to make sure they stayed safe.

They fought and defeated tigers together, did their best to keep Luffy out of the deathly harms way, and fought with their jii-chan. He went just as hard on Anne as he did the boys, if not more, he knew that atrocities that happened to women who couldn't defend themselves, he was committed to making sure Anne would become strong enough to be able to put up a fight for the strongest of men. 

They eventually 'moved out', in reality it was them just moving into a close by tree, where they had created a tree-house big enough for the four of them to be comfortable. They stole together, slept together, sparred together, and cooked together. Ichigo visited whenever she could, which become more and more as the days passed, she said it was because her parents were paying more attention into making her asshole brother in to the best heir he could be. Life was great and couldn't be any better.

Then one day everything changed. 

"Give Sabo back! Blue Jam!!" Luffy screamed as Anne and Ace lifted themselves off the ground.

"How can I give him back?" A tall man in a suit asked, "He is my son!! It is a child's duty to live by his parents' rules! Shame on you for making him run away!"

Ace got mad, "Are you scum after our fortune!?"

"What did you say?!" An enraged pirate punched Ace, his blood spraying up and hitting the nobleman in the face.

"You pirates be careful when you hit those kids! You've gotten their filthy blood on me. I'll have to disinfect myself."

Sabo gritted his teeth in anger, "Stop it! They didn't make me do anything! I ran away myself!!"

"You be quiet!" His father yelled back, "I'll leave the rest to you pirates."

"Of course, Sir," Blue Jam agreed, "you've already paid us. We'll take care of these three and make sure they never approach your son again."

"..Wait! Blue Jam! Father, it's ok! I'll do it!"

"What will you do?!"

Anne's eyes widened in disbelief, he wouldn't, "Sabo! Don't!!"

"Stop it Sabo!" Ace yelled with her.

Sabo continued on, ignoring his siblings, "I'll do whatever you say! I'll live however you want! Just...don't hurt them! I'm begging you...they're...my brothers!!"

"Sabo!" 

"Hey?! What are you talking about? Don't go!"

"Shake them off! Don't worry about us! I thought we were gonna be free!"

"Is this how it's gonna end Sabo!?"

"Sabo answer!!"

Sabo just stood there, biting his lips as tears and mucus rolled down his face. He walked away from them, his father following after him. Soon it was just the three of them, Blue Jam and his crew. 

They all stood there, unsure of what to do for a few moments before Blue Jam had enough and started to talk," Being born a noble is not something you can aspire to. It means born under a lucky star..! I'd change places with him if I could...I wish I'd been born a noble."

The three of them stayed quiet as Blue Jam continued, "So one of you four rotten apples...was a noble...and he came all the way from high town to the dump to fool around...he probably despised you three."

"Don't you dare spout such stupid lies!"

"That's ridiculous! Sabo's not like that!"

"Yeah! We are brothers!"

"...fufufufufu, I see, well, I'm sorry, then...but..you can't see him anymore...if you're planning on seeing him, I'll have to kill you right here and now. If you consider him your brother, you better leave him alone, for his own good..."

"But Sabo hates High Town!!" 

"Forget about him. It's the nicest thing you can do...you'll understand when you're older. Now you and I have history after what happened with Polchemy...But I don't about him. In fact, I like strong guys. Age doesn't matter. I'm..short-handed right now. You two want to help me out?"

The three of them shared a look before, Anne looked Blue Jam in the eye, she would not trust this man, no matter what...but at this point in time, he had his uses. "Ok. We'll help you. But if you double cross us...I promise...you'll regret it," her eyes almost gleaming red. 

Blues Jam just smirked and nodded his head, as if a little girl could scare him, he would deny that shiver that ran down his spine for the rest of his life. "Alright then, then is a map of the dump, the Grey Terminal. We're going to leave a few things where these Xs are. That's all."

The three got to work, they each got a pair of crates and followed Blue Jam's men. "...I hate it without Sabo here."

"Suck it up!! I hate it too! But I don't know what's really best for him. Let's just see how it goes. He's strong! If he really hates it, he'll come back."

Anne stayed quiet, she knew as tough of a time that they were having Sabo was having an even harder time. She would wait, wait and see what will happen with this new obstacle. At least she knew Ichigo would be able to give them updates about him...if she could. Anne sigh, "stop worrying about it guys, we'll get through this." The two nodded in agreement and focused on getting the work done. 

Later that night the three laid in their tree house, all up unable to get to sleep, Sabo, constantly running through their minds, 

"I wonder...How's Sabo doing..."

"Shut up and go to sleep!!" Ace was the first to respond, "we promised to forget about Sabo for now. This may be what makes him happy..." Though none of them thought that was the truth.

The following day they met up with Blue Jam, "There you are, squirts...tonight's the big job. I'll tell you about it later."

They followed him for a few hours, putting stuff away, packing or whatever it was, Blue Jam then finally told them the job. Their eyes widened...no way...this wasn't actually going to happen was it!?

"You're going to burn the dump!?"

"You're lying! There's no way you would do that!!"

"Keep your voice down, stupid...you don't want the people in the dump to hear you."

"Why would you do such a thing!?"

"Oh no!" Luffy screamed, "We have to let everyone know!! He's a bad guy after all!!"

"I told you to keep it down...Hey, don't like them get away!!...I'm not the one behind this anyway, with those boxes of oil and gun powder you distributed yesterday and today, there'll be a fire so big no one can escape. So even trouble makers like you can have a limit, eh? But now that you know the plan... I can't let you go. Before the fire...there's one thing I want to ask you...where did you hide your treasure?"

Anne gritted her teeth there was no way she was going to tell him, there was a rectangular jewelry box, she found a couple days ago with the rings. It was hard to open at first, but once she got it open, she found nine bracelets and nine rings. Each bracelet varied in sizes, but that was due to the number of jewels on them. The longest one called to her(she could have sworn it glowed when she touched it), it was a long silver chain with nine red small stones, rubies maybe. She left it in there, she knew now what not the time to take it. Anne didn't know what it was, but her gut told her that that box will be important to her in the future. There was no way she was giving up the location of their treasure. 

The night always came quickly from them, but this one seemed even faster. By midnight they could smell the burning garbage and almost feel the hot flames on their skin. It was less that five meters away from them. The three increased their struggles before Ace was finally able to cut the rope, "There I cut it!!"

"Hot! It's so hot! We can't get away!" Luffy screamed as the flames could almost lick their skin now. 

"Damn it! We're in real trouble now! And you!! Crybabies get left behind!"

"But it's hot!" 

"Shut up you two! We have to get out of here now!!"

They trudged as quickly as they could through the garbage and flames. 

"Wah! Hot! I mean not hot! It’s like a sea of flames out there!! It hurts to breathe...I mean, it doesn’t hurt at all..”

Anne reached over and pulled up Luffy’s shirt so it covered his nose, “Guys cover your noses with your shirts. Try your hardest to keep a breath.”

“We’ll get through this somehow!!” Ace said with a determined glint in his eyes, “You’ve got me remember?”

Anne couldn’t help but roll her eyes, was this really the time for his macho act? Anne’s eyes widened as she watched the flames behind them roar into life, “Ace, Luffy!! Go!! NOW!!”

“Run for it!! Anne! Luffy!” Ace hollered as they ran as fast as they could away from the flames. As they were running, the flames were catching up and was close to surrounding them completely.

“Whoa!” Ace yelled in surprise as the flames burned down everything in front of them.

“Do you think the guys from the trash heap made it out in time?!!”

“This is no time to be worrying about other people!..Ugh! I can’t even tell where we are!”

“Shit! This is very bad!! Damn it! Ace! Look!!”

“And who gave you permission to run, you filthy brats?!”

“Blue Jam!!”

“Why are you here?! You guys are the ones who started the fire in the first place!”

“Surely you would have made an escape ages ago!”

“Shut your faces, brats! We’re suffering through the depths of despair right now! Who would have thought things would turn out like this? You know, humans are a strange kind of creature, don’t you think? When we hit rock bottom, we can’t help but stand there and laugh!!”

The siblings turned and ran, they had no time to stand there and listen to Blue Jam, they had to get out of there, “Luffy, Anne! Let’s get out of here!”

“Don’t let them escape!! Don’t you remember? We’re pals, we are! We pulled off this whole job together! So it’s only right that we should die together an’ all!! You never did tell you where that treasure of yours is hidden. We’ll take it off your hands before it goes up in flames. So tell us where it’s hidden!!”

Ace was confused and Anne was mortified, “You're worrying about treasure when your lives are in danger?!”

“By that logic, why don’t you tell us, hm?”

The three of them flinched, what was wrong with this man!?

“If you’re not gonna collect it, then it’ll all go to waste.”

Ace and Anne stayed quiet, while Luffy couldn’t even think of doing something that stupid. “Don’t be stupid! That’s the treasure, Anne, Ace and Sabo-”

“...All right. I’ll tell you.” Ace agreed, Anne clenched her fists, she would let him have it for now, but she would get that box back no matter how long it took.

“ACE!! But you, Anne and Sabo worked your asses off for-”

“I’m sure Sabo will understand! All that matters now is you...is our lives!!”

Anne put on a brave face, grinned, and turned to Luffy, “Beside Lu-chan, there’s much more treasure out in the world. If we die here, we’ll never see it all!”

The two turned and faced Blue Jam again, Anne took Ace’s hand and squeezed it, “It’s in the giant tree, almost to the middle of the forest.”

Unfortunately, things don't always go according to plan. Within moments, Blue Jams men grabbed hold of them, "What are you doing?! She just told you where it is!!"

"But you might be lying. You'll have to come with us."

"Give me a break! If you do that, you won't be able to get away! You can go without us!!"

Blue Jam, fed up with the back talk, pointed his gun at Ace, "Don't make me any angrier than I already am!! I'm going to come back and have my revenge on these nobles, even if I have to use some kid's treasure to do it!! You 'brothers' should think the same. They think they're special, they think everyone else is trash!!"

"Sabo doesn't think that!"

"He's the same as them you idiot! He just liked hanging out with you because it made him feel superior!! What danger will a rich kid like that face!? This is just some sort of noble's game! Inside he looked at you and laughed!"

"Don't say another word about Sabo!!"

Luffy encouraged by Ace, yelled out, "Yeah! Sabo just wanted to be free!" and bit down on the arm of the man holding him.

"You brat," the man yelled, pulling out his sword and struck Luffy across the face, "I'm gonna kill you.."

"DON'T LAY ANOTHER FINGER ON LUFFY!!!" 

The men around them fell over faint, Blue Jam looked around confused, as Anne stared in wonder Ace had done it too. 

"What have you brats done?!" Blue Jam demanded as he kicked Ace. Enraged, he pointed his pistol as Ace, ready to shoot.

Anne's eyes widened, no, this couldn't happen!! 

"ACE!!"

"Stoooooooop!! Quit it, you sea brats!" It was Dandan! She hit Blue Jam's sword with her axe, "Let Ace goooo!!" Blue Jam was forced to step back from the force of the strike.

"Dandan..!" Luffy exclaimed. 

"What are you guys doing here?!"

"We finally found you!!"

The bandits had all gathered together in front of the fallen children. Dogura went and scooped up Luffy, "Hey! You're in a pretty bad shape, Luffy!"

"Dogura...!!"

"Where Sabo?!"

"Sabo's safe. He's not here."

"You bitch..." Blue Jam interrupted, "You're the boss of the Mt. Corbo bandits, aren't you...?"

"I'm the bandit Dandan! And for some reason I got stuck taking care of these brats...now...RUN AWAY!" She turned and hightailed it out.

"RIGHT BOSS!!" Her fellow bandits right on her tail, "Ace, Anne hurry!!" One of them called out.

"I...won't run away!"

"And I'm not leaving him."

"What the hell are you two talking about?! Let it go! You don't want to mess with Blue Jam!! There's no way two kids, like you could take him on!"

"M-me too!" Luffy yelled, trying to squirm out of Doruga's hold.

"No, Luffy!" 

"Take Luffy and get out of here."

"Boss?!"

"I'll make sure these two come back with me!"

"Boss..."

"Go!!"

"R-right! Please make it home Boss!"

"A woman and two kids..." Blue Jam said once they were alone, "don't overestimate your abilities or you'll get hurt. Only the strong and the cowardly make it out alive. Heroes always die..!!"

Anne started to laugh, "so I guess all four of us are getting out of here huh?"

They all turned to look at here, "Anne?"

"Ace and I are the strong ones, and Dandan too, I guess," she said mumbling the last part.

"Hey!"

"And you, dear Blue Jam, are the coward. Alright then. Ace, Dandan you ready? We have a family to get back too."

The three shared a smile, they would make it out of this alive, no matter what.

~!~!~!~

That night Ace, Anne and Dandan did not return from the fiery Grey Terminal. The bandits stayed inside their home trying to keep Luffy in bed.

"Hang on there, Luffy! Where do you think you're going in your condition?"

Easier said than done.

"I'm going to find Anne, Ace and Dandan!"

"Don't be silly! Your wounds are deep. Now just lie down and rest! There are soldiers all over the dump cleaning up after the fire, and when I say 'cleaning up' I mean not just the trash...but any survivors as well. If you go now, you'll just be killed!!"

"...but...!! I miss nee-chan and Ace!! Sabo's probably worried too...!!" Luffy said as he cried himself to sleep.

~!~!~!~

The next morning was a flurry of action. The bandits had given up on keeping Luffy in bed, but they definitely weren’t allowing him out of the house. 

“Ace and Anne are not dead!!”

“Luffy calm down! I understand how you feel...but it’s still too dangerous for you to go back to the trash heap with the military on the look out and your body in that state!!”

“The blaze was gigantic...the hopes maybe slim, but...we want to believe that our boss, Ace and Anne are alive as well, you know! Dogura is out there right now, trying to scout out what’s going on in the trash heap! Leave it to him! This is hard for all of us Luffy...!!”

Reluctantly the youngest brother agreed, he knew he wasn’t the only one worried, but Anne and Ace were all he had now that Sabo had left. Just as Luffy was about to go lay back down one of the bandits rushed into the house, “Hey! Everyone! They’re back! They’re all back!”

Everyone rushed out to see their missing family members. There in front of the door stood Anne and Ace. Ace was carrying Dandan on his back and Anne was clutching her abdomen.

“Thank goodness! You really were alive after all!”

Ace and Anne just smirked, “Of course.”

Luffy tackled Ace as he was taking his shirt off, “AAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEE!!! AAAAAANNNNNNNNNNEEEE!!”

“What did you think I was dead?”

“I.....!”

“What are you crying for?!!” Ace yelled, knocking Luffy over the head, “Don’t act like people are dead when they’re not, dummy!!”

Anne let out a loud laugh, “Ace! Stop he was just worried.” She said right before the bent over clutching her abdomen in pain. “Anne!”

“Ohhh, it hurts. Ace...it might have cut deeper than we thou-...” she gasped out before she fell to the floor. 

"Anne!!" They all screamed. Ace went to her and picked her up before he place her next to Dandan. He sat her up and pulled off her burnt shirt. His eyes widened in horror as he stared at the bloody strips of cloth. The bandits behind him gasped, Magra step forward, "Someone cut of those strips, I'll get some water boiling. I need someone to get some needle and thread, and also a couple of towels."

"Right." The bandits got went their ways, each to do what they were assigned. One of the bandits nudged Ace away and cut off the bloodied strips of cloth. "Ace what happened?!"

Ace clenched his fists, "Blue Jam came to cut me down...but Anne pushed me out of the way and took the blow. We didn't think it was that deep....we managed to defeat Blue Jam somehow that night. But our escape was blocked by the flames...Dandan was horribly burned. But we managed to hide out by the river bank in the central forest where the flames couldn't reach us. And I went and stole medicine from the city...we managed to save Dandan, and we tied up Anne...but she didn't tell us it was that deep!!"

"Goodness...well, I'm glad you guys are alive."

"Boss, you just rest and recuperate..."

"...sorry to have worried you."

"Out of the way!" Everyone not hurt, lept out of the way for the boiling water pot coming through. He put the pot on the floor, and Magra took a cup and quickly washed his hands. He took a towel, dipped in into the hot water, squeezed the excess out, and wiped down Anne's abdomen. Once it was clean, Sora came with the needle and thread. Before he got to work, Magra rolled up another towel and placed it in Anne's mouth to keep her from biting of her tongue from the pain. He got to work quickly, wiping away any blood that seeped out as he pinched her skin together to tie off the knot. It took another 45 minutes, since he wasn't a specialist, to finish. Once he was finished, he lightly wiped her abdomen down one more time before he got out his special salve and lathered her cut up with it. Finally, he set her up and wrapped her belly, and set her back down. 

He pulled up her blanket and let out a deep sigh, "I've done all I could, now we just have to wait and see."

"Where...where did you learn to do that?"

"My father was a doctor...well a quack...but he knew some things, so I watched him as a kid. I guess I kinda got good at stitching up people. And the salve is probably the only medicine that he created, that works. It helps heal, and prevent large scaring. 

"Thank you for helping my nee-chan Magra," Ace said bowing to him.

"Don't worry about it kid." He replied back, ruffling Ace's hair. 

"I wonder if Sabo's worried about us...after what happened to the dump." 

~!~!~!~

It was late evening when Dandan was up again, she asked the question that was on her mind since that night, "Ace...why didn't you run then...?"

"Sometimes...the blood rushes to my head...and I feel like...If I run, I'll lose something important...that time...-"

"Luffy was behind us."

Everyone turned to the young girl, "Anne! You're awake!"

"Of course I'm awake, you idiot. You're talking right beside me, how am I supposed to sleep with all that noise?! Ah!"

"Anne, you shouldn't talk," Magra said, "you're no way never healed yet."

"I'll be fine," she said, waving away Magra's concerns, she turned to Dandan, "Luffy was behind us, there was no way we could run. If we did...he would go after him...we couldn’t risk that, he's our little brother."

Dandan looked back and forth between the twins, 'you may curse it...but you can't fight your blood...'

Later that evening, Mogura came back home, bringing horrible news with him. There was no way what he said was the truth...

"LAIR! You can't joke around like that!!" An enraged Ace took Mogura to the ground.

"It's not a joke and it's not a lie! It was so sudden...I doubted my own eyes...! I thought I must be dreaming!" He pushed Ace off of him and sat up, "Luffy said...Sabo's parents dragged him home. We rogues know well that there are places you don't ever want to go back to! If he'd been happy...he wouldn't have set sail!! He wouldn't have raised a pirate flag and gone off to sea alone, would he?!"

'We promised to forget about Sabo for now. This may be what makes him happy."

"...Sabo...wasn't happy...!!"

'I'm sorry to say this, but even though I had parents, I was alone.'

"Why didn't we go rescue him?"

'I'll do whatever you say...! I'll live however you want!! Just don't harm them!!"

"Sabo...you...idiot!! We won't know if you don't say!"

"Where are the people who killed him?!" Ace demanded, dragging Mogura up by his collar, "I'm going to kill them myself."

Ace pushed his way through and ran to the door, grabbing his pipe, "I'm going to avenge him!!"

"Wait, Ace!"

"Stop right there, you stupid brat!!" Dandan yelled as she smashed his head into the floor. 

"Outta my way!" He screamed at her.

"You think you're so strong!! What are you going to do?! You'll just get yourself killed!! You'll get killed and be forgotten by tomorrow!! That's all you are right now!!" 

She pulled him up by his shirt, "It was this kingdom that killed Sabo! This world! What can you hope to do?! Your father died and changed the world! When you become the man he was, then you can decide whether you want to live or die!!" 

Dandan dropped him to the floor, "Hey! Someone tie him up!"

"R-right!"

Luffy was all the trying to hold in his tears finally let it all out, "SABOOOOOO!!" 

As the night wore on, Ace stayed tied to the tree outside, Luffy sitting with him, still crying, "Shut up!" But he could not stop. One of his brothers was now forever out of his reach, he could do nothing more than cry. He cried and cried till he fell asleep. 

The next morning Anne was up and walking, with some pain here and there, but she had been through worse, so she told Magra she would deal with it. She walked out to meet Ace with Dandan, and a few of the others, "Have you calmed down a little, Ace?"

Anne looked around not seeing Luffy, "...where's Luffy?"

"He cried all night...He's sleeping now."

"Boss!!" Dogura came running to them holding an envelope, "there's a letter...It's from Sabo...!! He sent a letter...before he set sail."

"Huh?"

"Give it to me! I won't go into town. That letter's for us, isn't it?!"

Anne took the letter from Dogura and put it in her back pocket and walked up to Ace, she took out her pocket knife and cut the rope off. She handed the letter to Ace and they walked hand in hand to the cliff, Ace, reading it on the way there.

"Ace, Anne and Luffy, you weren't injured in the fire, were you? I'm worried, but I have faith in you. I'm sorry, but by the time you get this letter, I will be at sea. So much has happened, so I'm setting sail before you. My destination...is anywhere other than this kingdom...there I'll get stronger and become a pirate. And when I'm a pirate, I'll be free, and someday we brothers will meet again. Somewhere on the wide, free sea, I promise! By the way, I wonder which of us is the eldest. I know Anne is older than you Ace so you're out. But Anne, do you know?

"I think it should be you. You're probably the most level headed one of us all. Cause you know, it'd be strange if there were two eldest siblings and two younger ones. But you know, this bond the four of us share is, and will always be my g-greatest treasure. L-Luffy is still a...crybaby you guys, but he's out little brother. T-t-take care of him."

By the end of the heartfelt letter, the twins it was the twins turn to bawl their eyes out. The letter had sunk what Dogura said into their minds...their Sabo was gone. And he wasn't coming back. 

That afternoon Luffy face down laid in the grass on the cliff. He didn't want anyone to show his tears. 

'Ace, Anne, Luffy!!! Promise we'll set sail! That we'll escape this kingdom and be free!!!"

The birds chirped and the world went on as the twins walked up to the cliff. Ace saw their little brother laying on the floor and knocked him over the head, which made him pull down his hat and cry harder. 

"How long are you gonna lie there like that?"

"...." Anne didn't say anything, and for once, and didn't want to interfere in Ace's tough love. Luffy had to learn this lesson without any coddling. 

"We lost all the treasure we had hidden in central forest...other that that chest of Anne's which she refuses to show us the inside of. Sabo couldn't even use any of it in the end...so...I...don't care about it anymore. It's no use hording treasure if we can't even protect it."

"...Ace. I..." Luffy began for the first time in a while, "I want to get stronger! Stronger!! Stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger!! Stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger!!! Stronger and stronger!! I'll get stronger!! And then...I'll be able to protect anything. And no one will ever die...!! So please...! Please...please don't you and Anne die too!"

"Don't be stupid!" Ace yelled, slamming his fist down on Luffy's head again, "You should worry about yourself first! You're way weaker than them me! And even more so than Anne! Listen up Luffy! We're not gonna die, and don't you forget it!!"

"...ok...!"

"Sabo asked us to...so I promise I won't ever die! How could we die and leave a weak little brother like you?!"

"..yeah..yeah..!"

"I'm stupid, so I don't know what killed Sabo...but whatever it was, it was the opposite of freedom..!! He died without ever being free! But, we made a vow with him and we're still alive! So listen up Luffy. Anne, come here."

Anne raised an eyebrow at the command, but complied, she'd let him have this. "I swear I will live a life without regret!!"

"Yeah!" Luffy and Anne agreed.

'A noble becomes a true noble at 18. So I'll leave this country when I'm 17.'

"Someday I promise, I'll set sail! And I'll live however I want! Freer than anyone! That may make me a lot of enemies...even Gramps'll be enemy! I'll be risking my life! But I'll still set sail at 17! And we will become pirates!"

"Yes,"Anne agreed, "I want you guys to know this," they turned to her, "I will change this world, no matter how long it takes. I will create a giant family, I will accept anyone who wants to be free and change the world. I will have many brothers and sister, but the two of you," she said, turning to face them, "I will always love you. No matter what sort of pirates you become. Just call for me and I will come to you. This I promise." 

She turned her head back to face the sea, "I will change this world, no matter who stands in my world. This world will be free. And I will fight for this til the day I leave in my sleep or I am cut down. So I want you two to be the best sort of captains for your crewmates to follow. I don't know where this came from, but it pops up into my mind every once in a while, 'those who abandon their mission is trash, but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash.' So be the pirate each of us can be proud of."

"Yes." The two boys agreed with her, a grin plastered across their faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember to leave a review!


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